I now have two bikes that will no longer require an MOT test, if I've read this correctly. Personally, I like to have a third party check my handiwork every so often, and feel that it leaves the door open for the unscrupulous to sell unroadworthy bikes, like some of the barn find brat bike crap advertised on Ebay.

_________________And then one day you find Ten years have got behind you No one told you when to run You missed the starting gun

I can see the reasoning - the owners of classic machines are mostly enthusiasts with mechanical knowledge where maintaining the machine in A1 condition is a point of pride - in contrast to some car drivers who run their brake pads down to the metal and thinks the gear stick is there to stir the petrol.

I would definitely sign up to a scheme where I could skip the MOT test if I could prove (on a one day assessment which I had to pay for) that I had the mechanical knowledge to safely maintain my bike via a practical and written test.

I can see the reasoning - the owners of classic machines are mostly enthusiasts with mechanical knowledge where maintaining the machine in A1 condition is a point of pride - in contrast to some car drivers who run their brake pads down to the metal and thinks the gear stick is there to stir the petrol.

I would definitely sign up to a scheme where I could skip the MOT test if I could prove (on a one day assessment which I had to pay for) that I had the mechanical knowledge to safely maintain my bike via a practical and written test.

Surely, having the knowledge and doing it are 2 different things.

I'm no expert but I know how to do basic maintenance and know what kind of things to be checking for, but I seem to hardly do any checks nowadays. I know thats a failure on my part but its a problem. If I passed this test and then just failed to keep up with maintenance, my vehicle could end up non-roadworthy very quickly.

I'm no expert but I know how to do basic maintenance and know what kind of things to be checking for, but I seem to hardly do any checks nowadays. I know thats a failure on my part but its a problem. If I passed this test and then just failed to keep up with maintenance, my vehicle could end up non-roadworthy very quickly.

+1

I'm good with my bikes but getting worse and worse with my van. Cars & vans are harder to work on, and generally dirtier than bikes. Most of us don't have sheltered areas large enough to work on them in, and in recent years our weather has got more unpredictable and (I think) generally worse for outside working. So it's easy to understand why we might be less inclined to do proper/regular checks and maintenance.

Yeah true - and if you had an accident due to faulty mechanicals on your part you would have your MOT exemption rescinded as well as the usual prosecution for running an unroadworthy vehicle etc.

Quote:

Cars & vans are harder to work on, and generally dirtier than bikes.

Yeah true - I'm thinking principally in terms of bikes - I wouldn't feel the same way about a larger vehicle.

The MOT test is cheap and is no big deal so I don't feel that strongly about it - but it's kind of a funny test when you think about it - I mean a year is a long time and a vehicle could become unroadworthy just a week after the MOT test if it has thousands of miles put on it in that time which is quite possible for a courier or sales rep vehicle.

Effective enforcement of vehicle roadworthiness should be carried out by traffic cops spot checking dodgy looking vehicles - and due to cuts and technology we have a lot less traffic cops than we used to (which if you like riding fast isn't necessarily a negative) - anyone who drove or rode regularly in the 70's and 80's will remember being pulled by traffic police for spot checks on bald tyres, broken tal lights etc - something which rarely happens these days.

Rightly or wrongly, I'd personally strongly object to be pulled over at random by the police, or any other government minion, to have my vehicle inspected, unless they had very good reasons for doing so.

I do understand the argument that the MOT test is only valid on the day of inspection, and that the vehicle could develop a dangerous fault at some point in the next 12 months. And that the majority of 40+ year old vehicles are well looked after, driven carefully, do low mileages etc etc.

But there are some folks who run these things as cheap transport, attracted by the zero road tax, old C90's being a good example. Not having an annual inspection on those is bound to mean badly maintained or illegally modified vehicles on the road, insurance ( if any ) invalid because of this. If I was an MOT tester, I'd fail anyone who turned up on an old air cooled CB750/4, with no front mudguard and a tractor tyre on the front.

Folks doing this could either be blissfully innocent / ignorant, or rogues who are fully aware of the situation.

_________________And then one day you find Ten years have got behind you No one told you when to run You missed the starting gun